


Faith

by orphan_account



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016), Stranger Things - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26522161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Robin gets tired of Steve dancing around his feelings.
Relationships: Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington
Kudos: 42





	Faith

**Author's Note:**

> Long time no see! This is literally just a vent fic if I'm being honest haha, you can tell by the lazy shift in perspective halfway through oops. I don't think there are any serious trigger warnings (for once), but it's kinda just angsty. Anyways normalize intimacy in platonic relationships!

Robin wasn't particularly sure if she enjoyed hanging out with Steve as much lately. The nights started out fun; they'd get food or watch movies or just go on long drives to watch the stars. They'd laugh and reminisce about high school or talk about all the dreams they know they'd never achieve.

Then there was a shift after about two hours. The boy traded the sparkles in his eyes for a perpetually distant gaze. He stopped cracking corny jokes and only let out a little exhale when Robin said anything. 

She wasn't entirely sure the exact reason behind it, but she figured that he ran out of the steam driving him to keep pretending everything was okay.

She knew that the same inconclusive thing would happen if she bothered asking if he was okay, but she always did anyways. The nights always ended after she brought it up; Robin would take a deep breath and ask what was going on, Steve would say he's just tired and make up an excuse for needing to head back home, and he'd drive to Robin's apartment in silence to drop her off.

After a month, Robin got tired of Steve's bullshit and broke the usual post-interrogation silence.

"You can't keep running away from everything, Stevie… I know you like to put up these walls whenever people try to get close, but it's not fair to us. It really hurts the people who care about you, ya know?"

Steve stopped the car in front of Robin's apartment. He processed what she'd said, but kept his eyes focused ahead. "If I'm hurting you then why do you keep doing this?"

Robin furrowed her brows. "Doing what?"

"I don't know, doing anything? Why do you keep saying yes when I ask to go out? Why do you keep calling me? Why do you keep talking to me? If I'm such a burden, why do you bother?" Steve turned his gaze to his lap and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The girl sighed and reached out to hold Steve's shoulder. "I never said you were a burden, and I don't think you're one either… I bother because I  _ care  _ about you, dingus. You're my best friend and I wouldn't trade that for the world. You're not hurting me, you're just making me worried and that hurts."

For a second, Steve was buying into the idea that someone could actually care about him without leaving. Of course, that only lasted a second and he retreated back into himself. He shrugged Robin's hand off of him and finally made eye contact with her. Her eyes were a soft, sympathetic shade of blue. It was hard to say no to someone practically begging to be a part of his life, but he knew it would make life easier eventually. 

"I don't think we should hang out anymore. Or just like, not talk anymore? I just- you want me to get better and I don't  _ want _ to get better and I don't want you to keep feeling worried and I'm sure you don't want me to keep worrying you and it's just not-"

"Oh for fuck's sake, Harrington! I've been so patient with your  _ bullshit _ and you're just gonna blow this off like that?" Her eyes hardened as she darted them around every place but Steve. "After all we've been through, you're just done? Really?!"

Steve flinched and any hope of keeping it together was gone. 'Bullshit' hit him like a speeding train. It was Nancy all over again, but this time with a girl who  _ actually  _ loved him. It didn't matter that the love was platonic because he felt more alive just having a genuine friend than he ever did making out with whatever girl threw herself at him.

"I'm sorry I'm- fuck…"

_ Jesus, you're crying now? Really? Nance called you bullshit like a year ago, you shouldn't still be freaking out over that stupid word. _

"I'm sorry I'm bullshit and- and this is bullshit and I just- I didn't mean what I said, I'm just being stupid."

_ Fucking idiot, you're an asshole and now you're a baby. Pick a struggle. _

"I'm just really scared of-of people leaving and sometimes I think it's easier to leave before they can but- I like, I genuinely want-"

_ You already ruined everything, what's the point? You can't save yourself from this. You already fucked everything up and she's not gonna believe you after that stupid shit you said.  _

"I want this to be real… I want- I want  _ you  _ to be real, and I want Dustin to be real and being happy to be real and I'm- I'm scared of disappointment. I'm tired of people leaving me."

_ Idiotidiotidiotidiot _

He buried his face in the steering wheel and gripped his hair. Choked sobs escaped, and he was disgusted with himself for letting another person see him like this, but he couldn't stop.

"It's okay, Steve… It's okay." 

_ Oh. _

A gentle hand rubbed circles on his back, juxtaposed to his unsteady heaving.

_ Why didn't she just get out? _

"You're okay, we're okay, everything is gonna be okay… We say stuff we don't mean when we're angry and it's okay. I'm not gonna leave, Dustin's not gonna leave, the other kids won't leave, Hopper isn't leaving. We're here, bub, and we're not going anywhere. We can help you, but you just have to put enough faith in us to show you."

_ Maybe she does care? _

"Stevie? You think you can do that?"

He wiped his face with the inside of his shirt, which disgusted him, but he already looked like a mess so there wasn't any new harm done. "Yeah, I can do that."

"So you wanna talk about what's been going on lately?"

The boy nodded, and for the first time, he didn't want to run away.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? I might do a part 2 where Steve actually opens up and gets help but that all depends on if anyone is into this! Kudos n comments are appreciated! I also might rewrite this some time so it's more consistent idk lmao we'll see.


End file.
